Monday, February 25, 2013

Both Tampines Rovers and Warriors FC are set to appeal against the fixture list that have been released.

The reason is the fixture list is set up against them as apart from the S-league they have the AFC Cup to contend with and the released fixture list will have them playing many games in a short amount of time.

That is why they may not be able to use their best 11 all the time.

For me, the worst part was not the badly done fixture list but the part of the FAS spokesman being quoted that FAS was sorry games have to be on weekend at times.

I do not know if he meant it but why is it S-league games cannot be on weekend and it is a step backwards as a club official anonymity noted.

For me, it is not we cannot do a proper fixture list but the people who are doing it are not doing with S-league in mind but the interest of the president (I do not need to quote name but it is him) who they aim to please.

That is why there can be no progress no matter who the next FAS president until we have a situation where S-league is run by people chosen by clubs and not FAS, with no disrespect to current S-league CEO Lim, whose interest it is clearly in conflict with now.

But even Lim bowed to FAS president as far as I can see for everytime his announcement he noted he has to get approval first and that is not good for anybody.

For if was really the top man in S-league hierarchy then he does not need to seek approval for he will be the one bearing the credit or the blame.

Afterall Tampines and Warriors are fighting for S-league interest in Asia yet matter are staked against them because of a team who is playing across the causeway and nothing is considered about S-league own interest in this matter.

Two years after their return to the S-league, new coach Patrick Vallee have lead Tanjong Pagar United to their first opening day victory in 12 years.

Not since 2001 when the Jaguars defeated Marine Castle 1-0 have the club won a game on their opening day.

And the Frenchman have himself to thanks for that as he recruited correctly in pre-season as his French recruits Monsef Zerka and Kamel Ramdani fired the Jaguars into a two-goal lead in under 10 minutes

By the time Balestier Khalsa woke up from their disaster started they were left with a task which proved too deep even as they mount a min-comeback as Zulkiffli Hassim fired a goal back and the Tigers had rattled the crossbar twice in between by Qiu Li which could have done the impossible.

It was not to be as substitute Hafiz Nor scored possibility the goal of the season to seal a 3-1 win.

Both matchup on the night ended in draw with Home United drawing 0-0 with League Cup champions DPMM Brunei while Woodlands Wellington earn a 2-2 draw with Warriors FC.

Home United coach Paul Lee was delighted with his defence but admit the attack will have to click soon as he acknowledged the players was still getting to know each others and adapting to the team style of play now.

As for the match in Woodlands, it was certainly not defence which dominate as right from the start, the home side went at eight-time champions Warriors and got a spot-kick after just 4 minutes.

Last season Rams top scorer Moon Soon-ho fired his kick back off the post though after sending Hassan Sunny the wrong way and the score remain 0-0.

The Korean make up for it as he finally got the opener after a save from Hassan Sunny left him with an open goal but Warriors will pull back through Sufian Anuar early in the second half.

Yet again though the Warriors which was poor last season was punished as a quick freekick fooled them and Rams marquee signing Khalid Hamdaoui was left alone to fire the home side into the lead again.

The Warriors though was not to lose their opener for the second year running as Shimpei Sakurada got the equaliser.

If there was any doubt why many punters and fans have make the champions favourite again for the title, it was gone by the end of the night as Tampines run riot with Derby rival Geylang at Bedok.

It was the Eastern Derby which the Eagles was to show they were back, or at least proved it was the first step on their way back to the top again, after their re-branding in pre-season when they were the first club to announce their squad and a change back to the name Geylang International.

But after a 0-5 drubbing the reality is the club is still far from their glory days of the SPL era.

The champions were good but they were help by a number of Eagles mistakes time and time again on the pitch as Sead Hadzibulic, Shaiful Esah, Firdaus Kasman, Jamil Ali and Khairul Amri notched their goals.

Whether it was because the Bedok players have not gel yet and it was just an off day time will tell but after this result, they do not have much of it at all.

In another match, Hougang open their account with a 1-0 win over Courts Young Lions at Jalan Besar.

The Courts Young Lions have announced they have captured their first foreign and only foreign signing of the season.

And it is Canadian Sherif El-Masri, who was one of their players last term.

"It looked as though last year was going to be my final year," he said. "But... one more year I guess!

"I was always in their plans but I guess they just took awhile to contact me. I was about to go somewhere else but then they actually called me back last week, so I just came in today [Monday] at five in the evening and straight to training.

"It was all of a sudden but I was okay with it so I just said 'why not?'"

Home United have started to rebuild their defence as they get Cubs French defender Sirina Camara.

The Protectors had released their central pairing of Kenjia Arai and Franklin Anzitéa at the end of the season as they seek to forget their forgettable 2012 season where they finish fifth in the league.

With Bulls Ismail Yunos also joining after Gombak pulled out, it looked liked they could be the new central pairing in the team.

Other than that right fullback Juma'at Jantan have return back to Home United and another defender Sevki Sha'ban have sign for the club.

Also custodian Lionel Lewis has retired and the Protectors have got former international Shahril Jantan and new signing Korean Jang Hong-won as his replacement.

The 2013 Protectors defence will have a totally different look about it.

Warriors FC new coach V.Selvaraj have set himself a goal of a top 3 finish by July or he will quit.

The former international took over the role over head coach from Richard Bok after the end of last season and before that he was the assistant coach.

The reason he has issued such an ultimatum is to show the players, the fans and the management he just not want the club to just make up the number.

Admitting that a return to the glory days of the past is way overdue, the 43-year-old reveals he will not settle for anything less than a spot in the top three this season, a marked improvement from last season's disappointing seventh-place finish.

"My aim is definitely for us to finish in the top three," he said. "If not, I don't think I would have taken this job or be participating in the S.League as a coach.

"We are Warriors FC - we have to always look to achieve something. If you ask me, we must win.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself but I don't want the pressure to be on the players; I'll soak it all in and let them relax and enjoy the game. But along the way, it's important for us to win titles.

"We have to get back on track as we have been missing in action for quite a while. We may have won the Singapore Cup last season but the league matters a lot.

"We have been there before so we can be there again. It's about time we did just that."

It is believed the players have responded to it positively and they are aiming to achieved the coach goal.

Still, the 43-year-old know it will take the players a while to get use to his style and his instruction on the pitch but he believed they can already see the positives.

"I'm definitely pleased with what the boys have shown so far in pre-season and I'm very happy."

"There are so many things I can praise them for - their professionalism, discipline, attitude, the communication they have shown - these were the things I was really focusing more on.

"We are definitely looking to peak at the right time. In terms of preparation, I'm very happy and everybody is very positive."

With India preparing for the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers, three of Churchill have been called up to the national team and AIFF is refusing to released them for the AFC Cup

India’s opening match in the AFC Challenge Cup is against Chinese
Taipei on March 2 in Myanmar while Churchill are set to play
in AFC Cup on February 26.

The Indian club feel AIFF can release the players as there are three days after the AFC Cup game to get to Mynamar but Wim Koevermans, Indian national coach, is planning to take the team to
Myanmar on February 26 is unwilling to do so.

The Indian club is grouped with Warriors FC, Indonesian side Semen Padang and Hong Kong champions Kitchee FC.

With Woodlands Wellington filling up a full 20-man squad for the club, the first of all local
sides this season to use up their full complement of spots.

There were questions if it was a reflection of an improvement in the club’s finances.

Rams chairman Hussainar Abdul Aziz asserted that money was indeed
flowing into the club, although he gave no specific figures.

“If you compare the situation to three years ago, Woodlands were not in a good financial state three years ago,” he said.

“What
the management here’s done is we have stabilised the club, and in
terms of financing, there will be no issues this year. We are in good
financial health, I can assure.

“We have expanded our
jackpot operations to bring in more money for the club, and takings
have increased tremendously in the past year. We are also actively
trying to find a main sponsor.

“The club’s looking at
all avenues now to increase the takings of the club and further improve
our financial health. Merchandising is one thing we’re looking at, but
the reality in Singapore is that you can’t sell too much that way, and
we’re hoping our fans will support and help the club.”

That
kind of finish was achieved only three times in the club’s history,
the last occasion coming in 2005, yet Salim seemed confident as he
spoke of the upcoming season.

“As head coach of this
club, I am very pleased to say that this year will be a better year for
Woodlands,” noted the 51-year-old.

“We have signed
some very quality players for the team. If you see from the expressions
of my players, they are very excited, and we want to be in a better
position than last year.

“I’m a very bold and outspoken
person, and I think the players I have selected this time will finish
much better than last year, maybe somewhere in the top three. I have
confidence in the team, and the players have confidence in me.

“If
we aim for anything less than the top three, our players might be lazy
and won’t work so hard. But I’m not going to put pressure on my team;
they know what they are looking at, and their minds are on playing
football, nothing else.”

The 2013 campaign marks
Salim’s second in charge of Woodlands, having moved to the club from
Balestier Khalsa at the start of 2012.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Clearly their coach have instructed them to get into the box before firing off their shots as in the first period, a number of them attempted Gerrad-type shooting rather than play the ball around to stretch Singapore defence.

They did that in the second period and the reward was they got 3 more goals.

Not wanting to sound like an old maid but I will still repeat - We need a West Asian tour every year like back in Ho Peng Kee era, whoever is the next FAS president as let not kid ourselves; playing Malaysia teams are nothing compared to West Asian sides and it is the only way to improve.

The pitch was in a bad condition but the technical skill of the Jordanian are without question. They control the ball so well that even when they lose control they can recovered it back easily.

One can tell nobody in ASEAN, even the Thai, will match them in the technical side of thing.

Yet Jordan is not considered the best in their region where they are many like them.

It showed the gulf in class between West Asia and ASEAN and ASEAN has much to catch up as tonight we may see ASEAN teams all lose their games as the Thai has gone down 1-3 to Kuwait and Vietnam 1-2 to UAE already.

Another Asian Cup without any ASEAN teams could be a possibility and nobody is to blame but ourselves.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Maybe it is still too early to talk on a legacy about a departing President as Zainudin Nordin still has two months to go as FAS President but once the S-league start I do not wish to talk about a man who, in my eye, had given the local league the short end of the straw and with CNY next week, there is no better time.

Also with the man already at the helm for 46 out of his 48 months appointment and if one still cannot decide on his legacy by now then it is unlikely one will decide on it based on the final two months.

Indeed he had a mouth, in my view, that seem to be not at all connected with his brain as whenever it open he always make promises that are build high up in the sky and virtually impossible to keep thus only making things worse down the road.

Of course, in my view now, he may have a different reason why he kept his mouth shut at that time but more on that later.

His mouth show up as he talk about the now-forgotten Strategic Plan where he make many promises but now as he near the end of his reign, has anything been kept and I knew it was going to be difficult to implement the plan but it was the way he went about it that was the problem.

After milking the positive vibes, Football Association of Singapore (FAS) under our FAS president seem to be throwing darts hoping to hit one of them and nothing illustrate this better than the crown jewel of the Plan - the National Training Centre.

Right from the start, any sane person will tell him it was impossible to get the Farrer Park land and to have promised that he was building himself up for failure and once he realised it, he told us the Toa Payoh site was also a good alternative but yet again he failed to appreciative Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) already had it own plans and it was never going to work.

Next he tell us Taman Jurong can do as well but considering how badly run-down the site is and how unappealing it is to investors, the cost will be prohibitive and he does not have the money yet so it ended with another brick wall again.

So one get the picture, he was just going around in circle promising one thing after another without accomplishing anything

Before anybody think it is just the ranting of a fan, the fact 2012 witness Yeo's (major S-league sponsor) and then Courts (Sponsor of Cubs - FAS run team) one by one going to the media or more precisely MediaCorp, as they must know Singapore Press Holding (SPH) will not listen to them much like our FAS President (more on that later), and this tell us his performance in the eye of the stakeholders.

Afterall in interview with SPH papers, he keep telling us 'he was always in constant talks with sponsors (like Yeo's and Courts) and they always support him'.

Then why was it they tell a different story as they told us his actions do not match his words.

It had to be with that mouth of his and it had shown it 'power' in 2011.

As shown in the second link, our FAS President focus, in the same year he spoke out on the Strategic Plan, was a joke as he spend the next year not preparing to implement the plan but talking about Singtel and Starhub to the World Cup.

He had a job to do but it seem he was always talking about foreign football and nothing on the job he had at hand.

Also unlikely those promises earlier in the article which were near-to-impossible to keep, much easier one such as the promise of no levy to FAM and a U23 MSL team that could have been kept but it was never the case.

People can talk about the difficulties but let remember the words of former PAP leader & PM Lee Kwan Yew who noted why the western world public fell out of love with their political parties, whoever is in power, as they all make promises they were never likely to keep and that is why he loath to make promises.

The now 88-year-old know, whether in power or not, he cannot take promises lightly for he has to keep them no matter what once the occasion call for it.

For if he break even one of the promise, the question will be why they should trust him again.

And yet our FAS President proceed to break the above two mentioned promises in less than 6 months when it was fresh out of the oven with a 10% levy to FAM along with all travelling costs by MSL rivals beared by FAS and a U28 team.

He can give whatever reasons but this show he does not take his words or promises seriously and is not worthy of being trusted.

Beyond that, back to the question of his commitment to any cause he spell out for last year in July, he told SPH paper TNP, in trying to dissipate the image he never gave S-league any attention, that he had worked on the S-league part of the Strategic Plan for the best part of two years.

One cannot achieved anything if one is intending to stick with any plan for just a few years and there is no better example than Stroke who I wrote about then.

The club, thanked to their Bet 365 owner, continue to build on their foundation while another BPL club Aston Villa is suffering as their American owner pulled back after just the first few years of extra funding.

Also as our FAS president is from PAP, can I question the government then as it is nearly 18 months since they formed the new government but they have not solved the transportation to housing problems etc

Of course I will be deemed as unreasonable as solution may take years and much of it will only be ready beyond the new General Election in 2016 and this showed how long one has to commit.

But I am not the person who is unreasonable, it is the leadership especially our current FAS head that is unreasonable as they continued to press for two to three years deadline for sports especially S-league.

At the same time, our FAS president do not have any rights to defend himself as whenever trouble struck he does his Houdini act.

In link five, I already talk about his disappearance after the cock up for Duric 300th goal celebration while in the first link, after the problems caused by Alam Shah comments, our leader was also nowhere in sight so whenever we need a leader he has shown he is not that man.

Yet nothing compared to 2011 in link three and four, after the anger caused by our FAS President words, he had to enlist the clubs chairman and our national coach Raddy who held one press conference after another to support him while he disappear without a trace.

However for that part of history, SPH paper reporter Gray Lim will claim he was a brave and bold leader for his action (Which is what as he was not around) so we can see why the sponsors like Yeo's and Courts rather go to MediaCorp than SPH.

Indeed if he was brave and bold then where was he for the deputy S-league CEO saga as let remember he was quoted by SPH paper Straits Times that he was the sole decision maker for the post of both S-league CEO and his deputy as he wanted to appoint both at the same time so S-league can take off immediately.

If that the case why was it once there was trouble regarding the deputy the person to answer it was the newly appointed S-league CEO Mr Lim while a now familiar scene develop as our FAS President perform yet another Houdini act.

How can that be the action of a brave and bold leader!

The only time I see him around is where there is glory to be claimed for in July 2011 he was around for his Malaysia team for the whole week and in 2009 during the revelation of the Strategic Plan while other time (especially troubled times) it is his sacrificial lambs of FAS general-secretary Winston Lee or S-league CEO Mr Lim that appeared.

Thus as Zainudin Nordin leave we see four wasted years based on a big mouth, broken promises, Houdini acts and a glory-seeking leaderless leader who was somehow appointed in the first place.